.485 Round ball

[Black Powder Guy]

I am looking for a company that carries .485 balls. Track, Log Cabin, October Country do not list .485. I looked other places and came up with nothing. Brian

 

[Loyalist Dave]

Never seen any other than folks going to LEE and ordering a mold made as such.

Track does have .480, but that likely will not suit your purpose, eh?

LD

 

[Black Powder Guy]

Thanks Loyalist Dave. I was thinking about patch fabric thickness. Brian

 

[Woody Morgan]

Thanks Loyalist Dave. I was thinking about patch fabric thickness. Brian

A lot easier than finding a .485 mold, imo. Are you shooting a .50?

wm

 

[Black Powder Guy]

Hi Woody Morgan. Yes i am. Brian

 

[krshade]

Missouri Bullet Co has a .487 ball.

 

[krshade]

Jeff Tanner offers that size in a mold (or mould).

 

[Black Powder Guy]

krshade thanks very much for Missouri Bullet. I forgot about them. I went to their web page and they have .487 in stock. I can now use .018 patch.

 

[Notchy Bob]

Hornady makes .485 round balls, but they are from a hardened alloy, not pure lead, and they are packaged with little plastic cups or sabots. I think they are probably intended for fast twist rifles, for shooters who want a lighter bullet. They also cost a lot more than Hornady's pure lead balls, probably because of the added cost of the plastic cups. Seems like if they have the .485" swage blocks for the hard balls, they ought to be able to knock out a few balls in pure lead, but they don't.

I think you have three options that I can see:

1. Get a custom mould from Callahan or Tanner.
2. Try the .487" balls from Missouri Bullet Company (available from Graf & Son)
3. Try the .480" Hornady pure lead balls with thicker patches.

Good luck with it!

Notchy Bob